Health Insurer Subsidizes Apple Watch

Aetna is planning to offer subsidized Apple Watches to its customers and will give them away to employees.

(CCM) — Aetna is planning to subsidize the cost of Apple Watches for some of its customers and will give one away to each of its 50,000 employees, the health care benefits company has announced. Aetna is also planning several iOS health projects, including health apps for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. These will remind customers to take medication, allow them to order more medicines, and enable them to contact their doctors if they need treatment. Integration with Apple Wallet will also allow customers to check their deductibles and pay their medical bills. These initiatives are welcomed by Apple as it is making great efforts to emphasize the health-tracking features of the second version of its Watch, which was released earlier this month.

Apple is already in the healthcare industry through its ResearchKit and CareKit app frameworks, which help developers to build apps for doctors to analyze health data and for users to manage their health on a daily basis. The company is also reportedly developing new health apps of its own for the Apple Watch to boost its health and fitness credentials.